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Crisis in Belarus

Lavrov tells Swedish top diplomat unacceptable to impose mediation on Belarus

The parties exchanged views on the situation in Belarus, including initiatives by Albania’s current OSCE chairmanship and Sweden’s upcoming OSCE chairmanship concerning dialogue between the Belarusian authorities and opposition

MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has held a telephone conversation with his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde, pointing out that it was unacceptable to impose mediation services and ready-made solutions on Belarus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

According to the ministry, the parties exchanged views on the situation in Belarus, including initiatives by Albania’s current OSCE chairmanship and Sweden’s upcoming OSCE chairmanship concerning dialogue between the Belarusian authorities and opposition.

"Russia emphasized that it was unacceptable to impose any kind of mediation services on Minsk, as well as ready-made solutions," the statement reads. "It was also pointed out that attempts to dictate to Belarusian society what forces should represent the country’s opposition in the proposed dialogue with the authorities were counterproductive. It is highly important to let the Belarusian people sort out the domestic political processes on their own, taking into account a constitutional reform suggested by President Lukashenko," the Russian Foreign Ministry added.

Lavrov and Linde also discussed the prospects for cooperation during Sweden’s OSCE chairmanship in 2021. According to the statement, the parties agreed on the need to address geographical imbalance in the organization’s personnel situation as representative of countries located west of Vienna held most top posts.

The conversation was initiated by Sweden.

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